Various techniques have been used to divide a stack of paper, such as a stack of paper held by a binder, into different sections. One conventional technique involves using divider pages having integrally formed tabs at fixed locations. Such divider pages are generally sold in sets with the tabs of the divider pages in a set being formed at different longitudinal locations along the edge of the divider page opposite the edge at which the dividers are bound. In a binder, the divider pages are arranged so that each tab is visible (i.e., not obstructed by another tab). Further, dividers are generally arranged so that the first divider in a series has a tab located at one end of the divider edge, and each successive divider in the series has a tab offset by some increment.
The fixed location of the tabs of such dividers leads to disadvantages. For example, the insertion, removal, and rearrangement of divider pages having integrally formed tabs may disrupt the orderly progression of the tabs in a binder, resulting in the obstruction of some tabs by other tabs and a generally disorganized appearance.
To address the disadvantages that result from using fixed tabs, dividers with repositionable tabs have been developed. One divider having a repositionable tab is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,503,487 (“Ong”). The divider of Ong is rectangular in shape and includes an edge with holes to receive binder rings and an opposite edge having a plurality of parallel, uniformly spaced slots. The divider includes a tab, which may be provided with a label. The tab may be positioned between any two neighboring slots by inserting ears of the tab into the neighboring slots. The tab may be removed and repositioned by removing the ears from one pair of neighboring slots and introducing the ears into a different pair having a different longitudinal location. U.S. Publication No. 2003/0126779 (“Sato et al.”) describes another type of repositionable-tab divider. In particular, Sato et al. describes a divider having a rail along which a tab is movable. Thus, the tab may be repositioned by sliding the tab along the rail.
While being able to reposition a tab on a divider overcomes some of the drawbacks associated with divider pages having integrally formed tabs, existing dividers still suffer from limitations. Accordingly, an improved divider design is needed.